Hi everyone,

I am planning to join the 1-year Chinese language program at Sichuan University (SCU).

I have a specific situation: I do not have an official HSK certificate yet, but I have been studying on my own and I am roughly at HSK 3 level.

  1. Placement Test: Will the university force me to start from the absolute beginner class because I lack the certificate, or is there a placement test upon arrival to skip the basics?

  2. Progression: Assuming I get placed correctly (or even if I start from scratch), what is the realistic maximum level I can reach in 2 semesters? Is HSK 5 achievable in one year?

I want to make sure I don't waste time reviewing basics I already know. Thanks for your help! 🙏🏻

  • Ofc not the same metric but I started from scratch and had C1 listening and B2 (10 points missing to C1) after 10 month. It was traditional but you can do the math

    parent

    That’s incredibly motivating! Thank you for sharing.

    I actually have a bit of a head start as I've self-studied up to HSK 3 level already. Since you achieved such great results in 10 months starting from scratch, do you have any specific tips on how to balance university classes with self-study?

    Also, did you focus more on immersion or followed a specific textbook/prep course for those levels? Thanks again!

    parent root

    Ok so just to make sure I was clear: I also was in a language program. How it worked was that we had 3 hours of class per day including dictations every day and a chapter test ~ every 3 days. If you do something similar, Anki is your best friend. I went to the library every day at about 8 (opening hour) to 9. I had the devise to be able to write every character I could read, so I practiced writing a lot. I’m going to do an exchange now in Chinese, so focussing on writing and not just recognizing will help me a lot for my exams. I made an Anki list of every lesson and practiced the card until I could write the characters and pinyin without mistake 3 times that it came up. Tbh I have a thing for the speaking parts, I didn’t do any immersion or anything BUT I strongly advise to make friends that are not from your native language and don’t have a good English level (Japanese ppl for example often have a poor English level). I made a good Japanese friend and took him everywhere so I could impose on the others to use Chinese to communicate. After I finished I didn’t really study but I watched dramas every day in Chinese (after I felt comfortable I switched from english to Chinese subtitles). I had an about 2 year gap and had to take HSK for my exchange (I learned traditional so I had to switch) and decided to take HSK 5. I had listening 97/100 (so 1 wrong ig) and an overall score of 258. Could’ve done better but that’s all I needed and I didn’t actively study for over 2 years

    parent root

  • Wow, that is some serious dedication! Your routine is incredibly inspiring. 🥹🙏🏻

    Out of curiosity, which university did you attend for this program? I'm currently looking into Sichuan University (SCU), and I’m wondering if the curriculum there is as intensive as the one you described. Thanks again for all these gems!

    parent